The realisation of end-of-life product recovery to support a zero waste to landfill approach in footwear industry

This thesis reports on the research undertaken to investigate the realisation of end-of-life product recovery in footwear industry, and to develop a systematic approach in considering the various factors that influence the selection of the most appropriate end-oflife treatment options for post-consumer shoes. The principle objective of this research is to generate knowledge and generic solutions to facilitate the application of product recovery and recycling procedures in footwear industry. The research contribution is divided into three major parts. The first part provides an overview of recent advancements in footwear sector and reviews the most relevant research in the area of end-of-life product recovery and multi-criteria decision making techniques. The second part investigates a novel methodology for the end-of-life product recovery in footwear industry. The application of this methodology is supported by a multi-criteria decision making model and software tool to aid the selection of the most appropriate end-of-life treatment option for post-consumer shoes. The third part of the thesis explores the applicability of the research concepts through the development of case studies based on two distinctly different types of shoes. The results from these case studies have shown a wide range of potential markets that can be established for the various recycled materials that can be obtained from post-consumer shoes. These results also indicated that a small increase in the cost of recovery process can lead to generation of high quality shoe recycled materials which could have potentially valuable applications in various industries. In summary, the research has concluded that the methodology, the multi-criteria decision making model and tool investigated by this research can provide invaluable support for the implementation of shoe recovery and recycling procedures in footwear industry. Throughout this research it has also become evident that the idealistic vision of "zero waste to landfill" in footwear industry cannot be achieved only by consideration of end-of life management options and necessitates the proactive involvement of shoe manufacturers through improvements in shoe design and material selection.